Custom Front Sway Bar

[speedybenz]

I just finished my front sway bar. Nobody seemed to make what I needed so I decide to make something that was adjustable.

The main cross bar is a hollow tube 1.25" diameter with a wall thickness of .250". So to adjust the sway bar stiffness you just unbolt the center bar and alter the tube thickness to change the sway bar rate.

[J Irwan]

Jeff,


Nice, keep coming with the custom parts
I like it...


While we are still on the suspension topic,
I just put my Koni Yellow and the delrin bushing today.
oh boy , it felt tighter on corners now with the delrin bushing.

another thing that surprises me is that my Original Billstein AMG is still in good conditions.

It still has the same damper response as Koni, but the koni has better rebound response. Probably since the Koni still brand new..

While I am doing the rear shock , I notice that the rear sway bar link (the small link that connect the rear swaybar and lower control arm is made of plastic. At first I couldn't believe it I meant wtf..@#$@% )

So Anyway, I wonder if you notice this, and already made a custom rear swaybar link.
I think it we could replace this plastic part with aluminum part the handling would be even better..


I wish I took some pic, but my hand was all dirty so I didn't get a chance to grab my digi-cam and took a snap shot of the part that I Am refferring (But somehow I knew that you know what I am talking about )


Regardz,

[speedybenz]

Junadi,

Yes, I noticed the plastic sway bar link and replaced it a year ago with an alum. link that improved the response in the rear about the same as the Delrin bushing in the front.

[J Irwan]

Originally posted by speedybenz
Junadi,

Yes, I noticed the plastic sway bar link and replaced it a year ago with an alum. link that improved the response in the rear about the same as the Delrin bushing in the front.

oh man,

Can you make me one.. pleaze...

also do you happened to have a pic of it..

thanks a lot man..

you're should be crowned as the "suspension tuning masta"

Regardz,

[JRE320]

Very nice adjustable sway bar Jeff. Now out of curiousity, how important is the sway bar and does it also got a role in handling or suspension? Ignorance is no excused but I'm telling the truth.

[speedybenz]

Junadi,

I can probably be talked into making a rear sway bar link for you.

JRE320,

The sway bar is very helpfull in tying the left and right sides of the car together in the suspension. As the left wheel gets compressed it causes the sway bar to twist so it adds a spring rate to the left wheel and tries to lift the right wheel which in turn helps to keep the car flat through the corners.

Sway bars are very important and really help reduce body roll. However if you put too big a roll bar on the car it can cause the inside wheel to lift off the ground and that will cause a loss of traction.

If the car was a race track only car it is usually better to use spring rate to control the roll stiffeness of your car and run smaller diameter sway bars for the above reason, but sway bars have been found to be a great way to balance a car out so it does not push or oversteer too much.

[JRE320]

Thanks Jeff!! A very usefull info. for eveyone to know. Now what if one side of your sway bar is kindna bend would you be able to feel it? Or impossible to get it align properly?

[CKlasse]

Jeff,

Don't you think there will be more stress on the 'joints' than on the bar itself? BTW are you keeping your AMG spec sway bar? I am interested!

[speedybenz]

Well the new sway bar seems to have cured the the front rolling over and causing the front tires from pushings real bad.

Now the car locks into the turn and I get a very mild push which is what I want. Feels very similar now to my 1999 C280 that I had fixed up to go around the corners pretty fast.

I have some 245/40/17 Kuhmo MX tires I am putting in the front this week which should help the front hook up even better.

Now I just need to figure out how to make the rear bar a little more fine tunable which may be needed to get the most out of the car at the track.

Jeff

[00kompressor]

Nice looking swaybar, are you still making the derlin bushings?

[Tump43]

Dear SpeedyBenz:

I'm relatively new to this board but would also like to get the best possible handling out my C43. Please include me in the order if you are making rear sway bar links for Juandi; I'd even like a set of front derlin bushings. Can't wait to install them!

Thanks,

[Denlasoul]

Jeff:

Nice stuff you got there. I'm sure your car with hadle very well in the near future.

Also, will you be machining anymore bushings? I was looking into front/rear sways and control arm. I am currently researching a place that does polyurethane bushings, but not sure just yet.

Thanks,

DLS

[moebiusgold]

Hmm, that tube looks suspiciously like one of the torsion bars from my race car. I think that I can make the arms one piece.
Jeff, way to go! The kind of modding that I'm really into, that for some reason, not many here seem to be. At higher speeds my 43 is seriously deficent in the front bar. So much so that over 120 you better be going pretty much straight if your going to do any kind of hard braking My C36 does this but not nearly as badly. For everyones benifit I'm talking about the outside front over compressing and causing the inside rear to lift. This totally unsettles the car making the front end hook to the inside and sometimes letting the rear step out. Not a good combination. This particular turn is not much of a turn. If you never hit the binders it could be done by lots of fast street cars flat out. It's just a big sweeper.
So It looks like my next project is going to be front and rear bars. I just love the stuff that no one can see

[jnolte]

Damn that is niCE!! I wish i could fabb up shit like that!!

[1SIKBNZ]

Hey Jeff you mentioned before that you had setup a 99'c280 to hang pretty tight in the corners. i have a 99'c280 and only thing i have suspension wise is vogtland springs (1.5in. drop) what else did you have on yours for suspension? what can you suggest? it is not my main focus of the car but i would like to tighten it up a bit. thanks!

[speedybenz]

I don't know how many miles you put on your car but if its not many I would put a set of Kumho Victorracer in 225/50/16 these things stick like glue and will give you about 8,000 miles.

Install a 19mm rear swaybar. I made my own and pics are availible on the website.

I could maybe make you a set of Delrin bushings for the front swaybar that will make a pretty big difference in the roll at the front of the car.

Jeff

[1SIKBNZ]

yeah i would like to reduce the front roll right now its pretty loose and i would like to stiffen it up soem. what would a set of bushings run me? also im only like an hr from sac. any chance on help with the install of them? im not even really sure where/what they r...lol... plus id love to check out your ride! thanks in advance!

[omegabenz]

Delrin is a quite hard plastic right? If so are these bushings you made two piece bolted together? too bad your pictures arent working, I would assume I could look at them.

[MRP Motorsports]

Delrin is an engineering polymer that is often used in sports car club racing for "cheater" bushings. It is available in different durometers, "hardness", and modified formulas with different additives. It can be as soft as some polyurethanes and as hard as some metals. It is a very common, cheap material that is easy to machine. They make nice bushing but they are less compliant than polyurethane or rubber and tend to take on a compression set. But that is a life time issue, performance is typically better. The less the sway bar moves in the bushing mean the more force that is able to be transfered the opposing wheel.

I am assuming the sway bars are splined bars with heat treated formed clamp on ends. You can also get bronze alloy bushing for these bars.